


We’re Going Down

by HopeWolfgang



Category: The Edge Of Sleep (Podcast)
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 09:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21353872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeWolfgang/pseuds/HopeWolfgang
Summary: They had no choice. They had to land on the water.OrThe plane crash, but from Mateo’s point of view
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	We’re Going Down

Mateo was  _ fucking  _ tired. 

It had been three days since he had slept, and then, like the genius he was, he had agreed to fly the only two other people he knew that were alive for thirteen hours to Papua New Guinea on the off chance that Dave wasn’t crazy and the man from his dream was real. Brilliant. And now, for the cherry on top of the already nightmarish trip, some asshole had parked something on the tarmac. They didn’t have time to find somewhere to work as a makeshift runway, Dave was already losing it, and Mateo couldn’t stand the idea of trying to make it through the apocalypse without him. They had to land in the water.

Mateo was trying to run through every lecture he had ever had in the Air Force. Of course they had discussed water landings when in distress, but they had never practiced it. It was a last resort, if all else fails and you can’t land, you do this. Even then, he wasn’t taught to do it in passenger planes. This was going to be a disaster. He was going to fuck it up. He was going to crash and they were all going to die and  _ Jesus  _ he was so tired. Shouldn’t adrenaline or some shit be kicking in right now? Instead, he felt like his brain was muddled, foggy. He took a deep breath. It was now or never. He stopped to think, what needed to happen before they took off? Cargo! If even a water bottle was loose, with enough force could do some damage to a head.

They’d also need to have their life jackets on before the hit the water, so they could immediately head for the escapes. And of course, he’d have to go over how to brace

“Okay people, time to water ditch! I hope you can swim.” He paused for a moment, hearing Dave’s dismay. 

“Make sure all the cargo is stowed, anything loose is gonna go flying. Your life jackets should be under your seats.” He waited until the sounds of their shuffling ceased, this next part was important.

“When the plane starts to land, keep your heads between your knees. If the cavern is flooded, you’ll run right for the exit.” This was it. They were going down.

“Okay, here we go. Sit down and buckle up!” He took a few breaths to clear his muddled head. It didn’t help. He took the knife Linda had given him and ran it across his arm, dabbing it with hydrogen peroxide. That provided a little clarity, but even its effects had dulled. The next step made him the most nervous. Once he did this, there was no going back.

“Cutting the engines!” There was a slight jerk to the plane as the engines were cut. Immediately, several different alarms went off, reminding him just how bad of an idea this was. What the hell did he think he was doing.

“Starting to descend.”He started the gentle incline down into the water depths. He had to be careful, to steep and they go straight to the bottom of the ocean. Just outside the cockpit he could just barely hear Linda hyperventilating. Was she afraid of flying? Would this send her into a panic attack, effectively making her unable to escape? He hadn’t even thought to ask. They were closer to the water’s surface now.

“Opening emergency doors! Brace for impact!” He heard the metallic think of the emergency doors unlatching, and then the wild sound of the wind whipping around the cabin. God, please just let Linda and Dave make it through this. He watched the blue ocean grow closer, and closer and yet even closer. In just a moment, they were going to impact.

“BRACE! BRACE! BRACE!” He had done everything he could. He felt an odd sense of relief fill him, and then exhaustion. Leaning back, his eyes wandered down to planes speedometer.  _ Fuck.  _ They were going too fast. It was too late to slow down now. As the plane impacted the water, the force slammed his head against the metal console. With a whimper, Mateo felt darkness envelope his vision.

  
  


He woke up to the feeling of warm sand on his back. He vaguely could hear someone calling his name. As he came back to consciousness, the voice grew clearer. It was… Dave? Mateo pried his eyes open to see a very concerned Dave standing over him. 

“Jesus dude, you scared me! We thought we lost you!” Mateo wiped his eyes and winced. His head ached. He remembered the plane hitting the water but after that… 

“What happened?” He asked, “And why does my head hurt so bad.”

“You hit it pretty good when we crashed. Linda and I had to bust open the cockpit door to get to you.” Mateo sat up, his head spinning for a second. They pried open the door to get him out?

“You did that, for me?”

“Of course Mateo, you’re my best friend. I wasn’t just going to leave you to die. Anyway, afterwards we were picked up by this young kid in a boat, who brought us shore. You’re never gonna believe it, but the whale is real! He’s this old guy who has this group of people who can protect us while we sleep. We made it! We can finally take a looooong rest.” Mateo laughed.

“You are really some kinda dream prophet. I guess a nap does sound pretty good right now. Where’s Linda?”

“Oh, she’s up in the cabin. Poor thing basically conked out the minute we got to land. Come on, I’ll take you up there!” Dave smiled down at Mateo, reaching his hand out to help him up, but something about made Mateo feel weird. Like something wasn’t right. He shrugged it off though. He had just been in a plane crash, his nerves were bound to be fried. 

“Hell yeah, man!” As Mateo reached out his hand, he really looked into Dave’s eyes for the first time, and his blood went cold. In the middle of Dave’s eyes, where pupils should be, there were little black triangles. It was too late though. As Mateo’s hand made contact with Dave’s cold pale one, he heard the roaring of an elephant in his ears, and then, he was gone.

  
  



End file.
